Fixing the Source
by Isolde Eris
Summary: Challege by Jester08 HarryTomWarnings The war between dark and light has begun. In a confrontation between Harry and Tom, Harry discovers the source of the war-Dumbledore. Using a ministry artifact, Harry travels to Tom's 1st year to right Dumble's wrongs


Hey guys, I know I haven't written in a while but this whole year has just been so chaotic. To come back with a bang I decided to take on a challenge by Jester08. Just to let you know I've started on new chapters for Memories Live Forever, The New Girl, The Ship Boy and the Princess, and While You Were Gone. Look for updates on these by July 15th or so.

The guidelines are as follows:

**Pairings: **Harry Potter and Tom Riddle

**Summary: **"What would you do, Harry Potter, if you realized that your life was a lie?"

**More Detailed Summary: **On the eve of the final battle, an emotionally broken Lord Voldemort comes to Harry begging for death. Before giving him his final wish, Harry receives all of Voldemort's memories. Spurred by sympathy for his enemy and hatred for Dumbledore, Harry goes back in time, to where it all began, determined to right what went wrong.

**Details: **

Rated M

Major Angst/Romance

Romance can't start right away. It must happen after they get to know one another and Tom gets a little older.

Time Travel

More than 15 chapters

Harry will be 16 and in his sixth year of school

Tom will be 11 and in his first year of school

Dumbledore MUST be the bad guy

Tom will be the submissive one

Tom will be abused by his classmates and Dumbledore (for Dumbledore it will be in secret), making him suspicious of everyone around him

Everyone's abuse, but mainly Dumbledore's, will be what makes him into the Dark Lord

You can include your own characters, too, if you wish

Warnings: It's rated M for a reason guys. There's cussing that would offend certain ears. Later there will be more sexual imagery that's not appropriate for certain audiences, and this is Slash aka guy on guy. If any of these are offensive to you, please don't read or review. Other than that enjoy the story!

July 1996

Diagon Alley was choked in silence. Shoppers did not bustle through doorways, and bells lay silently against doors, yearning to be wrung. Inside the shops, dust covered Olivander's Wands, yards of Madame Milkin's fabric lay untouched, some robesonly half completed. No sudden sounds drifted out of Weasley's Wizard Weezes and the books of Flourish and Blotts lay dusty on the shelves or waiting to be unpacked. The war had broken only a week ago,but it had been sudden, with Dementors pouring in from all sides and stealing the souls of unsuspecting individuals. Gringotts Bank had graciously opened their doors to any who did not bear the Dark lord's mark or were active in either the Order of the Pheonix or auror department, they were going to remain neutral, a haven for the pedestrian population. Once you entered Gringotts you weren't allowed to leave.

Beneath the silent, cobble streets of the Alley, the ministry of magic was quiet but not silent. Here was the war's center, a constant battle for territory between the Light and the Dark. At any given moment a Death Eater could turn the corner, an Order member could fire a spell, an auror could switch sides. If there was one thing Harry Potter had learned in the last seven days it was to be careful who you trusted. He had watched as Ron had learned that lesson the hard way. No one had suspected Hestia Jones of being a spy for the dark, but then again the Golden Trio hadn't known her very well. The woman had always seemed to have such a warm heart; until she turned on Ron, blasting him into the wall and then shattering his rib cage. Hermione was still taking care of him in the medic center the Order had set up in the minister's office. She had saved almost all of their lives at one point or another, shoving potions down their throat, running into the heat of battle to heal the wounded.

Harry steadied his breathing, perhaps he should have taken back up, but they needed every person they had. And the full moon was coming, who knew how many werewolves Voldemort had brought into the building. Remus had already begun to weaken. Using a supersensory charm, Harry determined no one was on the other side of the corner and quickly turned and made his way down the hallway, heading for the elevator. Nervously, Harry pressed the down button.

"Bloody wizards," mumbled Harry, "think they're too bloody good for stairs."

The elevators had become a major issue. If a group gained control of an elevator they could simply wait with wands at the ready until the elevator was summoned by someone from the opposing sides, both Light and Dark had used this to their advantage. Harry prayed for an empty elevator.

Bing

"Please, please, please be empty." Harry's prayers were answered as the door opened and no spell flew out. Stepping inside, Harry quickly jammed the button to close the door and hit the button to the lowest level. Tonight would be the night he would face his fears. The order members had been too terrified to bring up the idea, but the unspeakables had been able to hold off the Death Eaters from the Department of Mysteries and that area could be host to an innumerable amount of weaponry. Harry planned on finding those weapons, if they exist, and restoring hope in his troops. Neither side seemed to have gained a clear upper hand and the aurors and order members were becoming apathetic. That couldn't be allowed to happen. The doors opened and Harry stepped into the silent hallway.

_If I were a weapon of mass destruction, where would I keep me?_ Having no answer to his own thoughts, Harry chose to go right. Staying close to the wall, Harry began slinking down the hallway.

_Is that breathing?_ Harry came to an abrupt halt and snapped his head to look over his shoulder. Empty. _I'm spending too much time with Moody._ Continuing down the hallway, Harry's eye was caught by a flashing blue light leaking out from under a door on his right. His curiosity peaked; Harry slowly turned the knob and opened the door. The room was plain in looks, a standard white paint coating the walls, and in the center of the room was a medium sized ball, blue lightning struck the sides of the ball, illuminating the room.

"What the hell…," Harry furrowed his eyebrows.

"Is that all you can think to say?"

Harry whipped around. There, in the doorway, stood Lord Voldemort. "I thought the unspeakables held off your men."

"Oh they did, there is no denying that," the barest hint of a cringe appeared on his face, "but I'm far more capable of sneaking here alone- obviously the same train of thought you, yourself, possessed. I simply had the intelligence to cast a disillusion charm on myself."

Harry's hand had slipped into his pocket while Voldemort was talking. Slowly, he grasped the familiar holly wood and stared at his enemy, "Shall we finish this?"

"Finish what Harry?" a half-hearted arrogant smirk played across his features, "Destroying the world, perhaps? For that is all I've done, I've allowed myself to become so tainted that my vision, almost in my grasp, was turned to ash by my own wand. End it Harry! End it for us all!" Voldemort's voice had reached a loud octave, causing Harry to step back to surprise. Dark magic snapped and crackled with energy around Voldemort. "Come now Harry," Voldemort took a step forward and Harry stepped back, "this is no time to play hero. I can not be, "Voldemort snarled, "redeemed. Kill me." Harry froze, the words to the Killing curse running through his head. "Kill me!" Voldemort came forward as his voice escalated in desperation.

Startled, Harry stumbled back, "Where did it all begin?"

Voldemort froze, "You don't know, boy? I thought the all-powerful _Dumbledore_ showed you my past."

"He did," Harry replied, "I know all about the orphanage. I know about you're interest in Horcruxes, and I know how you got your hands on Hufflepuff's cup."

"You know _nothing_ of me. It seems your mentor," Voldemort spit out the title, "left a few spots blank. For instance who drove me to fear death? Who kept me in the orphanage? Who interfered when a wizarding couple wanted to adopt me? I'll tell you who. Dumbledore! Your beloved fucking Dumbledore."

Harry clenched his jaw, memories of Dudley's torment over the years flashing before his eyes. Little Harry running up a tree to get away from Marge's dog; Vernon shutting his cupboard, screaming he wasn't getting dinner; Petunia spitting how much of a freak he was. Dumbledore had put him with those people, and before he had screwed up Harry's life he had destroyed Tom's chances at a normal childhood. Glancing around Harry took account of the room, "Where the hell are we?" The rage was building inside of him, cursing seemed to be the easiest outlet at the moment.

"The frozen room," Tom promptly replied, "It's said that wizards and witches enter this room, disappear for months, sometimes years, and then reappear in their homes or in a shop without appearing to have aged a day."

Harry glanced around, "Well then I guess this ball would be what keeps them frozen in time. There's nothing else in here."

"Oh, poor Potter, you really need to read more. Not only would these people reappear, but they would claim to have gone back in time. Some have claimed to meet the founders, other's having seen Merlin. Either way the ministry accompanies them to St. Mungos and they come back out claiming they were suffering from a temporary bout of insanity."

Harry looked into the blue orb. "What if I went back in time?"

"What? Don't be stupid, boy," Voldemort sneered, "what would your precious army do without you? I'd win in an hour."

"Not if you temporarily cease fire."

"And why would I ever do that?"

"Because if this orb does what you say, then I can fix this. I can go back to your Hogwarts years and help you, help myself. If Dumbledore doesn't screw up your life, you won't kill my parents and I can have a life."

"And the prophesy?" Voldemort said with skepticism.

"Neither can live while the other survives. If I fix this, we'll both be living. Neither will be merely surviving." Harry smirked, "I would have made an amazing Slytherin."

Voldemort seemed to ponder the possible outcomes, "Fine, I'll give the order for only retaliation fire until you return. If your troops fire, I will NOT allow my soldiers to simply be slaughtered."

"Deal," Harry said, "my troops should behave. If you don't initiate contact they'll use this time to recover." Harry smirked, "See you on the other side."

Harry reached out to touch the seemingly solid ball Harry's entire arm was sucked into the ball. Harry let out a grunt of surprise and felt the mass tugging at his body. Soon his shoulder was covered. Voldemort simply watched, emotionlessly.

"If this kills me, I'm coming back to haunt you," Harry ground out before the ball gave one final tug and Harry lost consciousness as his body was ripped through a vacuum.

Voldemort continued to stare at the ball for another ten minutes, and with a sneer he turned and swept from the room. He needed to rescue some morons who were attempting to ambush the Order on the elevators.


End file.
